Heretofore exercise apparatus utilizing a hydraulic pump in a closed hydraulic circuit in order to provide resistance to movement have tended to require an unsatisfactorily long period of time in order to achieve equalization of hydraulic pressure on the high and low side of the pump when the user ceases to exert a force thereon. This is believed to be due primarily to the fact that hydraulic fluid has been trapped between the proportional relief valve of the system used to selectively control the force required to actuate the pump and the check valves provided in the hydraulic circuit in order to control hydraulic fluid flow from one side of the pump to the other during the course of exercise. Therefore, as the user exerts a force and then releases the same, the base pressure of the system tends to increase. This is particularly apparent when the cycles of exercise by the user are rapid and continuous. The result is that the base pressure of the hydraulic circuit tends to increase and thereby create distorted evaluation data of user movement. This was initially overcome by providing a small fluid flow control valve in a bypass circuit around the selectively controlled proportional relief valve in the hydraulic circuit. Although this modification of the hydraulic circuit resulted in evaluation data which more closely reflected actual user exercise, the bypass valve was unable to provide equalization of the high and low pressure side of the hydraulic system when a force was applied in less than one second after removal thereof. Therefore, the improved valve system of the present invention has eliminated the need for the bypass circuit and valve previously utilized and, more importantly, eliminated hydraulic pressure buildup in an exercise apparatus circuit to allow for the accumulation of evaluation data closely reflecting actual user exercise movement.